Consulting Service
IF YOU ARE BUILDING A NEW CUSTOM HOME, WE CAN HELP AVOID MAJOR MISTAKES THAT WILL COST YOU IN THE LONG RUN.
Builders:
With over 40 years of plumbing construction experience, I’ve plumbed everything from sky scraper build outs to new home construction and almost everything in between. The vast majority of builders I’ve worked with over the years are honest, good, hard working people. However, in new home construction, builders are essentially a broker and banker between the prospective homeowner and the subcontractors that actually build your home. A good builder coordinates the subcontractor in each phase of the job making sure they all stay on budget and time schedule.
- The average builder doesn’t typically understand all the needs of the MEP’s (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) for the home. They usually rely on the subcontractor to know his trade and do the job right. If your dealing with a custom builder, there are exceptions to this rule, in rare circumstances. If your dealing with a track builder in a major neighborhood they typically don’t care. They are selling a house plan and in many cases changes are not permitted.
- A good custom home builder has had the same subcontractors for many years. There are several reasons for this. First, the same subcontractors on different jobs work well together as they know each other and know what to expect from each other in the different phases of the project. Second, they are paid regularly. Subcontractors that don’t get paid on time don’t stay around long. If your builder has had three or four different Plumbers, Electricians, HVAC etc…. in a years time, there’s a good chance you should be asking some questions.
- The average customer will pay thousands of dollars to have someone help pick out a paint color, design just the right cabinets for the kitchen and bathrooms or choose which rug looks best in the living room only to get into their new home and find it takes 5 minutes to get hot water to the kitchen sink and 7 minutes to get hot water to the master bath.
Custom Homes
Custom homes are far more expensive and far more complex to build and manage. When building a custom home you should have a contractor that has experence in this area and not just a guy or gal that coordinates subcontractors. I go into homes everyday that wastes thousands of gallons of water a year waiting on hot water. Homes that have high flow master showers and the water just barely comes out because the piping is too small. THESE THINGS MEET THE CODE, BUT THEY DON’T MEET THE NEED. The NC plumbing code for instance, is the Minimum Standard. Just because it meets the code doesn’t necessarly mean it will meet your needs for something you paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for.
- Some things are a little more complex than others. Sizing in plumbing is as important as it is in HVAC. You wouldn’t put a one ton air conditioning system in a 7000 sq. ft. house and expect it to work properly and keep you cool. Thats exactly the same with water heaters. All water heaters are not the same. Every situation requires planning and location of the installation to meet the customers needs.
Consulting
Builders will tell you that if their plumber doesn’t do it correctly the inspection process will catch the problem. This has never been true. Many years ago there were trade inspectors. These inspectors had worked in their prospective field and knew how the system truly worked. In this age, many problems were caught and corrected. In todays age, inspectors are multi trade inspectors. This means in most cases a single inspector will inspect every aspect of your home from the roof, to the electrical, mechanical, plumbing, framing and so forth from what they’ve leared in a book. They are good people doing good work that have a basic understanding of how the system really works. The truth is one person can’t recogonize every problem or correct every fault. THAT’S NOT THEIR JOB! Their job is to make sure the project meets the minimum standard of the NC Building Code.
You won’t truly know how any of these systems work until it’s too late, the project is finished and you are living in the home. When the tile is on the bathroom wall and the paint is on the sheetrock it’s very expensive to fix deficiencies that could have been prevented in the first place.
If you are building a new home and would like help and advice before the project begins or your project is underway and would like to talk it through, we offer that service. We are licensed with a North and South Carolina Class 1 Plumbing License as well as a NC Level 3 Plumbing Inspectors Certification. You can reach out to us at 910-367-8292 or [email protected]
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